Why Prereleases are the Best Way to Acquire Cards
General forum
Posted on Dec. 21, 2014, 2:58 p.m. by kungfuturtle
I am a firm believer in the prerelease. Nothing in this world excites me more than 11:59 on a Friday night with the kit sitting in front of me watching the clock countdown.
However Let us look at this phenomenon from an objective stand point. The store I attend holds four flights at 25.00 dollars a piece also they sell booster boxes of the new set for 108.00 dollars. I see many of the regulars from other stores come in and buy these boxes but do not play in the prereleases. let us break this down mathematically.
4x flights at $25.00 cost $100.00 for 16 packs of Fate Reforged, 4 packs of Khans and 4 Seeded packs. which is a $95.76 value for a loss of $4.24.
1x Booster Box at $108.00 for 36 packs of Fate Reforged. $143.64 value for $108.00 at a profit of $35.64.
at first it seems the booster box is the clear winner of this math problem if your sole objective is to acquire new cards. However my store runs several promotions we should factor in to this equation, If you attend all four flights you get a Tshirt, let's say that shirt costs $7.50 as that is the price shirts are at Wal-Mart. Further more you get a pack of Ultra-Pro sleeves for each flight you pre-pay at least a month in advance. $3.99 a pack per flight so now we are looking at
24 packs for $100.00 plus $23.46 for the Tshirt and sleeves. The box is still $108.00 for 36 packs. Currently we are profiting $19.22 at the prerelease.
The next piece we should examine is prizes. At the midnight flight they have the promotion that if you stay all five rounds and play all five rounds, No fifth round tie, you get a pack. Which brings our total to 17 packs of the newest set plus 8 of Khans and Seeded. Prize payout is based solely on record as follows
5-0// 16 packs
4-0-1// 12 packs
4-1// 8 packs
3-1-1// 6 packs
3-2// 4 packs
With four attempts at prizes you can potentially (if you go 5-0 each time, unlikely) earn TWO WHOLE boxes. However if you place decently each time you can at least make out with 10 or 12 more packs bringing our total to 30 packs of Fate Reforged, 4 Khans and 4 Seeded along with our Tshirt and four packs of sleeves.
If we factor in 12 prize packs and the last round pack for a total of 13 extra packs, currently the profit margin of the prerelease to $71.09 compared to the $35.64 of the booster box.
Mathematically the prerelease is superior by twofold to simply buying a booster box
However, the next topic cannot easily be quantified, Trading and Social interaction, many many times I have cracked a cool mythic rare and a guy exclaimed "Dang I wanted that." and the first thing I do if it is not a card I am going to play, trade it, trade everything. You cannot put a price on the fun stories and shenanigans you will have at these prereleases. Almost all of my fondest memories of magic have occurred at these events.
So what is your fondest prerelease memory?
For me it was my very first one, Scars of Mirrodin, I had dug through the spoilers for days and days. My heart was set on pulling the newest and coolest planeswalker, Venser, the Sojourner I told my friends that "I WILL pull one", after five packs of Scars opened I felt that my dreams were going to be crushed. The last pack I opened had a venser, and a FOIL ONE! It was and still is one of the best memories of Magic.
Then buy the box? I was assuming the "when all things are equal" concept when comparing to items.
And if all you want is cards I would still recommend the prerelease method as you can potentially get more than 36 packs
December 21, 2014 3:12 p.m.
Uhhh..... but you're still buying boosters which is just straight up worse than buying singles.
December 21, 2014 3:17 p.m.
vampirelazarus says... #6
Most people I know who buy boxes, do it because they can't make the pre-release, or stay for it.
And again, if a "flight" is a separate event, I know for a fact, that hitting four events consistently is going to be difficult, and tiresome.
Honestly, Chief is correct, it's typically better to just buy the cards you need out right.
I'd rather spend $40 on a play set of Windswept Heath, instead of play four events, and spend $100 in the hopes that I get the four Windswept Heaths
December 21, 2014 3:23 p.m.
kungfuturtle says... #7
That is fair. I do it for the fun and experience. For the rest of the time a set is out I do not buy booster packs for the reasons stated above.
December 21, 2014 3:27 p.m.
I go to Prereleases because they are fun, not really for any other reason. Yeah I get a bunch of cards, and the prizes are huge (my store has first place as a whole booster box!), but worst case scenario I only get a bit of fun out of it. Which is worth it to me :)
December 21, 2014 3:58 p.m.
kungfuturtle says... #9
It is the best, the only thing i miss is when the gave away good promos! free Wurmcoil Engine, Hero of Bladehold, Emrakul, the Aeons Torn and Ajani Vengeant! damn promos used to be good
December 21, 2014 4:26 p.m.
The only reason a prerelease is better than normal is because the packs in the prerelease boxes are stacked with good Rares to make you more excited to open more packs
December 21, 2014 4:50 p.m.
TurboFagoot says... #12
What a ridiculous post. If your goal is to acquire cards, the objectively best way of doing that is buying the singles you want. If you want to play in a tournament and have fun with friends, go to a prerelease.
A lot of math and time spent writing done to prove exactly nothing.
December 21, 2014 5:37 p.m.
IAmKingTony says... #13
Buying singles is good for decks but some people also like to build a collection and fill up binders.
December 21, 2014 5:47 p.m.
vampirelazarus says... #14
Yes. Which is why I first said that buying boxes is better than going to four prereleases.
However, I do buy singles just to put them in a binder.
December 21, 2014 6:49 p.m.
I haven't bought a card in awhile, but I do trade for cards just to put in binders
December 21, 2014 6:52 p.m.
FatherLiir says... #17
My first prerelease was Born of the Gods and took place in the bar next to my LGS, we played during last years Super Bowl game. I lost every game because little dumb me thought it was fun to make a five colored deck all cause I pulled a Chromanticore
December 21, 2014 7:10 p.m.
Named_Tawyny says... #18
Are you sure you'll be getting 4 packs of FRF in each pre-release? Normally the small set has less boosters than the large one.
vampirelazarus says... #2
What if I just want cards? Nothing extra?
What if I can't play the prereleases, especially considering that it's four events, in order to get close (I'm assuming a "flight" is one event, as I've never heard that term before) to the value of the box?
December 21, 2014 3:07 p.m.